B (Good) - The stock has a good track record for balancing performance with risk. Compared to other stocks, it has achieved above-average returns given the level of risk in its underlying investments. While the risk-adjusted performance of any stock is subject to change, we believe that this fund has proven to be a good investment in the recent past.
It is also important to know what you want to accomplish with your investments before you actually invest. For example, you might want to purchase a home, fund a child’s college education, or build an adequate retirement nest egg. If you set financial goals at the outset—and match your investments to achieve those goals—you are more likely to reach them.

Considering that penny stocks are any shares that trade for less than $5, there are plenty of penny stocks on many of the major exchanges like the NYSE and the NASDAQ. There are even a few which trade for less than one dollar but still trade on these "big-board" markets. However, you will typically find most penny stocks trading at the following locations:

The solution to both is investing in stock index funds and ETFs. While mutual funds might require a $1,000 minimum or more, index fund minimums tend to be lower (and ETFs are purchased for a share price that could be lower still). Two brokers, Fidelity and Charles Schwab, offer index funds with no minimum at all. Index funds also cure the diversification issue because they hold many different stocks within a single fund.
PEG ratio -- Companies grow at different rates, and failure to take this into account is one of the key shortcomings of the P/E ratio. The price-to-earnings-growth ratio, or PEG ratio, levels the playing field. Simply divide the company's P/E ratio by its projected earnings growth rate. For example, a company with a P/E of 30 and a 15% expected growth rate would have a PEG ratio of 2.0. Like the P/E ratio, the PEG ratio is most useful for comparing companies in the same industry but with different growth rates.
We all know someone who has “tried” investing in the stock market, lost a lot of money, and denounced it as a scam. The truth is that the stock market is not a scam; it is an incredible wealth-building tool. Most people who lose money in stocks do so because they get spooked by a dip in the market and then panic. Fearing that they will lose all of their investment, they hastily sell their shares, often at a loss. This should not be the case. Investors must keep in mind that over the long run, the stock market tends to increase in value, so they should think twice before selling their investments in a panic.

If you are literally just getting started, the services offered by most major stockbrokers (information here) as a part of their trading account services will be a good place to start (and free). Firms such as Trade King, eTrade, Charles Schwab and Ameritrade provide a range of online tools. These will give you a feel for how portfolio management software works without having to pay extra to learn. However, these services typically offer no advice (known as execution only), which means that a separate service will be required for information analysis.

Dividend investing refers to portfolios containing stocks that consistently issue dividend payments year-in and year-out. These stocks produce a reliable passive income that can be especially helpful in retirement. Dividend reinvestment is a way to accelerate portfolio growth. Still, you can't judge a stock by its dividend price alone. Sometimes companies will increase dividends as a way to attract investors when the underlying company is in trouble. Dividends are taxable.
Day trading is the act of buying and selling a financial instrument within the same day or even multiple times over the course of a day. Taking advantage of small price moves can be a lucrative game—if it is played correctly. But it can be a dangerous game for newbies or anyone who doesn't adhere to a well-thought-out strategy. What's more, not all brokers are suited for the high volume of trades made by day traders. Some brokers, however, are designed with the day trader in mind. You can check out our list of the best brokers for day trading to see which brokers best accommodate those who would like to day trade.
Investment ideas can come from many places. Ask your family members what products and services they are most interested in—and why. Look at trends in the world and companies that are in a position to benefit from them. Stroll the aisles of your grocery store with an eye for what is emerging. You can also seek guidance from professional research services such as Standard & Poor's and ValueLine. Many online sources also exist for investment ideas.

"Investing has become much easier," says Steve Sanders, executive vice president of marketing and new product development at Greenwich, Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers. "More of your hard-earned money will go straight toward your portfolio and not toward paying fees. I think this will be extremely helpful for beginning investors as well as others who like to save money."

One constant principle of investing is that markets fluctuate. Stock prices will rise and fall for a number of reasons: the economy, investor sentiment, political uncertainty at home or abroad, energy or weather problems, or even corporate scandals. This means market performance isn’t always predictable. That is why diversification, or spreading the investments in your portfolio among different asset classes and across different sectors within each class, is such an important strategy. Diversification is a time-tested way to manage risk.

A stock's market capitalization (cap) is its true value, the sum of the total shares multiplied by price. It has more meaning than the share price because it allows you to evaluate a company in the context of others of the same size in its industry. You can use a market cap as a filter to screen for companies to balance your portfolio. A small-cap company with stock capitalization of $250 million to $2 billion shouldn't be compared to a large cap, which ranges from $10 billion to $100 billion. Market capitalization influences your investment returns.

A robo-advisor offers the benefits of stock investing, but doesn't require its owner to do the legwork required to pick individual investments. Robo-advisor services provide complete investment management: These companies will ask you about your investing goals during the onboarding process and then build you a portfolio designed to achieve those aims.

If you are literally just getting started, the services offered by most major stockbrokers (information here) as a part of their trading account services will be a good place to start (and free). Firms such as Trade King, eTrade, Charles Schwab and Ameritrade provide a range of online tools. These will give you a feel for how portfolio management software works without having to pay extra to learn. However, these services typically offer no advice (known as execution only), which means that a separate service will be required for information analysis.

Once you've decided that you want to buy stocks, the next step is to open a brokerage account, fund the account, and buy the shares. After you've done that, it's important to keep a long-term mentality -- if your stocks go down, for example, it can be very tempting to panic and sell. Remember how carefully you chose your stocks, and avoid selling your stocks without fully exploring the company's situation.
To make comparisons between companies, sectors and markets a little easier, there are a number of mathematical models used. The most common and often the most helpful is the P/E ratio. The Price to Earnings ratio takes the share price and is divided by the earnings per share. It is possible to calculate this using past earnings, projected future earnings and with all sorts of moving averages ;-) Therefore, this is one number that it is vital for any investor to know and understand.

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